OpenEvidence Hits $12B Valuation in Thrive, DST-Led Funding Round
▼ Summary
– OpenEvidence’s investors are not concerned about new health AI products from OpenAI and Anthropic, as the startup raised $250 million in Series D funding at a $12 billion valuation.
– The new funding round, co-led by Thrive Capital and DST, doubles the company’s valuation from its previous $6 billion raise in October.
– OpenEvidence is an AI medical platform for doctors, positioning it differently from competitors like Claude for Healthcare (for patients/payers) and ChatGPT’s consumer health product.
– The platform’s usage has grown significantly, serving 18 million clinical consultations from U.S. healthcare professionals in December, up from 3 million monthly a year ago.
– The company has surpassed $100 million in revenue and has raised a total of $700 million from notable backers including Sequoia, Nvidia, and Mayo Clinic.
The recent $250 million Series D funding round has propelled OpenEvidence to a staggering $12 billion valuation, a figure that underscores the immense confidence investors have in its specialized approach to the healthcare AI market. Led by Thrive Capital and DST Global, this latest capital infusion doubles the company’s valuation from just six months ago. This rapid growth signals a strong belief that the startup occupies a unique and defensible position, even as tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic launch their own health-focused tools.
OpenEvidence operates an AI-powered medical information platform designed specifically for doctors and clinical professionals. Think of it as a next-generation, professional-grade resource that serves a similar foundational purpose WebMD did for the general public, but with a far more rigorous and clinical focus. This strategic positioning differentiates it from new offerings like Anthropic’s Claude for Healthcare, which targets a broader audience of patients, payers, and providers, and OpenAI’s consumer-oriented health products.
The platform’s adoption metrics reveal explosive growth. The company reports that its free, ad-supported service facilitated a remarkable 18 million clinical consultations from U.S. healthcare professionals in December alone. This represents a massive jump from approximately 3 million monthly searches a year prior. Alongside this user engagement, OpenEvidence has also achieved a significant financial milestone, surpassing $100 million in annual revenue.
With this new funding, the company has now raised a total of $700 million from a prestigious roster of backers. Previous investors include GV, which led a $200 million round at a $6 billion valuation last October, as well as Sequoia, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins, Blackstone, Bond, Craft Ventures, and the Mayo Clinic. The substantial capital and high valuation suggest that venture capitalists see OpenEvidence’s doctor-first model as a critical advantage, creating a trusted ecosystem that general-purpose AI tools may struggle to replicate in the complex and regulated healthcare landscape.
(Source: TechCrunch)
